ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Kobe Bryant scored 26 of his 32 points in
the first half as the Los Angeles Lakers opened a big lead and
blew out the Atlanta Hawks, 127-93, for their most lopsided road
win of the season.

Shaquille O'Neal added 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting for Los
Angeles, which had lost six of its previous nine games,
including a 93-87 setback at Philadelphia on Sunday in the
opener of a five-game road trip.

Neither Bryant nor O'Neal played in the fourth quarter, which
began with the Lakers ahead, 102-69. But they still registered
their highest point total of the season. Los Angeles' largest
overall victory was a 120-81 home shellacking of Memphis on
January 14.

"The way Kobe was going tonight, I had to sit him down," Los
Angeles coach Phil Jackson said. "He was going like crazy and
took advantage of the small guard corps. He set the tone for
the game."

Bryant shot 10-of-12 for 20 points in the first quarter --
matching the Hawks' total -- in staking the Lakers to a 12-point
advantage. His 20 points were a season high by a Hawks'
opponent in a quarter this season.

"We came out and played hard," Bryant said. "We really came
after them defensively. We played great defense."

After a layup by Dion Glover got Atlanta within 32-24 with 11:27
left in the half, the Lakers went on an 18-0 run that was capped
by a dunk by O'Neal with 7:43 to go in the period.

The Lakers led by as many as 28 points before the break and took
a 68-41 bulge into the locker room. Los Angeles shot 62 percent
(28-of-45) through 24 minutes and 58 percent (50-of-87) overall.

"I felt like once we got a big lead, we got away from it a
little bit," Bryant said. "We felt like we had such a good
rhythm, we didn't have to execute. (But) we did a pretty good
job tonight."

"The Lakers did whatever they wanted to do," Atlanta coach Lon
Kruger said. "They had their way from the beginning. They were
outstanding and dictated every aspect of the game."

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who was named to his first All-Star team on
Tuesday, had 21 points to pace Atlanta, which has lost four in a
row and 10 of its last 11 games.

"When you lose like that, nobody is doing what he's supposed to
do," Abdur-Rahim said. "We didn't compete as hard as we needed
to as a team. There's no pont screaming and yelling. We should
be embarrassed."

"I am happy for him. It's about time," Bryant said. "Being in
Vancouver (before this season), guys didn't have a chance to see
him play. And it's a shame. He's an All-Star and he should
have been an All-Star years ago."

Nazr Mohammed chipped in 15 points and Jacque Vaughn added 13
for the Hawks, who never led and trailed by as many as 40 in the
fourth quarter en route to their six defeat in seven home games.

"They whipped us tonight and they whipped us on both ends of the
court," said Jason Terry, who had 11 points and eight assists.
"They came out and showed us they weren't going to let up. One
through 12, they came out and beat us all night long. (They
got) loose balls, rebounds, second shots, just everything."